I wouldn't even want to hang out with somebody who is passionate about something. Why would I want to hire somebody who applies for a job that requires passion for some gay technology, or like plastic mold manufacturing? It's absurd to believe that anybody who says that they are passionate about those things is being honest. If they are being honest, they're creepy and weird, and if they aren't being honest, then they're insane liars.

The weird people who are passionate need to be left alone or surgically applied. They shouldn't be mingling with regular employees. If that's a possibility, then using those people can be pretty beneficial.

The insane liars are good sometimes, too, like when you really want to fucking stick it to some dumbass sucker by selling him a new AI agent-based phone secretary service for his local two-employee plumbing LLC. How can you sleep at night knowing that you hired somebody who will look you in the eyes and shake your hand while they enthusiastically outline their high-energy drive to succeed in the field of door-to-door roofing sales? These people mimic the passion of the weirdos, but, because they aren't actually passionate, they lack the social awkwardness that comes from being emotionally invested in their faux passion. This allows them to manipulate others with false claims, while avoiding the problems weirdos face by, ironically, remaining dispassionate about the subjects they claim to be passionate about.

Hiring for passion this way seems to filter out perfectly competent and honest people who view describing their passions as the conversational equivalent of unclogging a toilet by hand. When I see a job posting that asks for passionate people, I immediately move on, because I don't want to work for anybody or anything that wants something so dumb.